The reported delay till 2027 as a result of the country's poor quality has been reversed.
Withheld from the Golf 8.5’s unveiling earlier this year because of the country’s fuel quality, Volkswagen Group Africa has now reportedly confirmed the arrival of the Golf 8.5 GTI in South Africa much earlier than initially forecasted.
Why the delay?
Back in April, on the sidelines of its annual product Indaba at its factory in Kariega, formerly Uitenhage, Wolfsburg admitted that a particle filter, designed to reduce emissions in Europe, had been the reason for the delay as it prevents the engine from running on South Africa’s low-rent fuel.
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A part different in design from the Golf 8 GTI, the filter’s integration into the powerunit as a whole has been such that it cannot simply be removed from the newer EA888 Evo 4 2.0 TSI unit that makes 195kW/370Nm in GTI.
Not present in the 1.4 TSI engine has, therefore, been the reason for the Golf 8.5 being sold locally, with the older incarnation of the former also used in the new Tiguan.
The reason also preventing Volkswagen from marketing the Golf 8.5 R locally, as well as its eTSI and eHybrid models, initial plans alleged that a local introduction had only been due in 2027 as per the passing of South Africa’s Clean Fuels 2 regulations that had been on the table for than a decade.
Wait over soon
Based on a newly uncovered report by CAR Magazine, the protracted wait has seemingly come to an end.
Accordingly, the publication cites Volkswagen Group Africa has approved sales of the GTI from as early as the end of 2025.
While no further details were provided, it states that the South African-spec model will have the same 195kW/370Nm outputs as in Europe, connected to a seven-speed DSG as standard.
As before, top speed is limited to 250 km/h, however, 0-100 km/h is said to be under six seconds as no figures were divulged at the time of the Golf 8.5’s world launch in January last year.
Price?
As it stands, the Mk 8 GTI and R have been sold in tandem with the Mk 8.5, priced at R853 400 and R1 016 600 respectively.
Although no confirmation about the R’s arrival has yet been made, the debut of the Mk 8.5 GTI will come with a significant price bump, which will also be applicable to the R once sales approval gets granted.
As such, a sticker around the R900 000 mark could be plausible, however, this is unconfirmed and purely speculative at present.
By comparison, pricing for the Golf 8.5 ranges from R580 900 to R688 100.
Expect a formal announcement to be made in due course.
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